Blog Archives

The crew from Dark Discussions gets in touch with the 2018 indie Pyewacket, which focuses on a teenager full of angst who probably should’ve been more careful about what she wished for when she got angry at her mom.

Dark Discussions delights in the much-admired The Devil’s Candy — an interesting little indie horror film with religious undertones set near Austin, Texas, from the director of The Loved Ones. Hear what we have to say about the movie about a passionate painter who must sell out–and gets more than he bargained for. You can listen to our episode here: http://www.darkdiscussions.com/Pages/podcast_285.html

Today is the Blu-Ray/DVD release date for the terrifying surprise hit The Autopsy of Jane Doe–if you saw this on VOD and loved it as much as I did, now’s the time to add it to your collection! Dark Discussions looks at symbols and more in the film on Episode 268, which you can listen to here: http://www.darkdiscussions.com/Pages/podcast_268.html

A little ways back, Dark Discussions ran a contest in its Facebook group — what movies from the past would listeners like to hear us cover? One of the winners (it was a tie) was 1963’s Jason and the Argonauts.

Since it seems like Hollywood has figured out (finally, and we’re not complaining!) that horror films do well in the winter months, we’ve had so many new releases to cover we haven’t had time to get to either of our winners. We got lucky when logistics hung us up for a week, so we decided a trip down memory lane (and into the dusty annals of our brains to see what we remember about the myths we read in high school) would be the perfect fill-in.

The best part of Jason, of course, is the fantastic monsters created by Ray Harryhausen. One of the images that haunted my childhood was Talos awakening.

Cons! They are so much fun, but there are so many of them. Sometimes I’m lucky enough to have a choice on the same weekend—like this year; fortunately, it wasn’t hard (and it would have been), because circumstances beyond my control made the choice for me. I’ll be at Ro-Con 2 in Mystic, CT; my Dark Discussions co-hosts will be at Scares that Care in Williamsburg, VA…but at both, we’ll be discussing Frankenstein.

Ro-Con 2 “showcases all that the geeky and creative communities of Southeastern Connecticut have to offer.” The weekend is packed with panels on everything from self-defense and research to costuming and geek dating. The con also includes a writing track.

My schedule (subject to change – this is according to what’s available now) is as follows:

Saturday, Noon:Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading: I’ll be reading something from (probably) my most recently completed soon-to-be-published-in-Dark Passages 2 story “Mujina.” I’m not sure how many of us will be reading, but I know I’m joining the very awesome D.L. Carter!

Saturday, 3 p.m.:Submissions Workshop: Everything you need to know about the right way to submit your short stories to magazines or anthologies. Plenty of hand-outs! (Solo)

Saturday, 5 p.m.:Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Television in the ‘70s and ‘80s: Everything from the Bionic Man’s Bigfoot Episode to Wizards and Warriors and the original Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark! (with Mario DiGiacomo and Ari Alpert)

The weekend will kick off for me when I’m on the “Lake Geneva, 200 Years Later” panel—a discussion of Frankenstein and that summer night during “The Year Without a Summer”—with Mario DiGiacomo and Keith R.A. DeCandido at 10 p.m. on Friday, July 22.

Meanwhile, approximately eight hours south at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel in Williamsburg, VA, the Dark Discussions Team will be paneling “Discussing Frankenstein” at Scares That Care. This third annual 501(c)(3) event is completely for the benefit of families with ill children or women with breast cancer; according to their website, to date they’ve donated over $100,000 to various organizations.

The Scares That Care Weekend has something for everyone: a 5K race, celebrity appearances, writer readings, film showings, zombie hunts, panels, seminars…you name it, they’ve got it. The Dark Discussions crew will have a table and raffle off items to help raise money for the cause, and co-hosts Eric, Mike, Phil, and Patrick Lacey’s “Discussing Frankenstein” panel will take place from 11 a.m. – Noon on Saturday, July 23. Philip and Patrick will also be reading from their work at some point during the weekend.

While I’ve never been completely behind the idea that “all good things must come to an end,” I do believe that some good things have to come to an end to make way for new good things.

As part of my new “Less and More” initiative in 2013, I have decided to no longer continue doing Scary Scribes. I have very much enjoyed the show and the opportunity it has afforded me. I’ve read some fantastic books, learned the basics (I do mean the very basics) of podcasting, and interviewed some amazing writers whose inner lives have enriched my own. I will always be proud of the project and recall it fondly, but there are other things I’d like to pursue—mainly, focusing on my own writing again (I am working on three drafts right now), reading more books, and working with Rob on re-tooling Read Short Fiction—a project I truly love that deserves more time and attention than I have had to give this past year.

I plan on keeping the website–www.scaryscribes.com–up for the rest of 2013, and will add a Scary Scribes page beneath my “Projects” tab on my full site, www.kristipetersenschoonover.com. The page will contain all the show’s episodes, so you can listen to them whenever you want, as well as links to the guests’ websites. The “Projects” tab, in case you’ve never visited, is where you can see some other short-term projects I had fun doing, but which also needed to end to make way for new things.

Tune in tomorrow at 6 p.m. ET for J.G. Faherty and The Burning Time, and on February 24 for J.S. Watts and A Darker Moon.

As you might assume, I’m always looking for a few more scary stories to read. And if you’re a busy one like me who sometimes only has time to “read” via audio—in the car or doing whatever—then you’ll especially be interested in this.

Hosted by Santoro, each episode features readings of stories and/or poems from the classics (think Poe, Lovecraft, and more) as well as today’s movers and shakers. In addition, there are insightful features no horror fan should miss, like Kevin Lucia’s Horror 101, in which he traces the roots of the macabre from its beginnings to today, Martin Mundt on the horror life, and so much more…this isn’t just a show about stories. It’s a thinking horror reader’s dream.

If that weren’t enough, Santoro’s voice is chilling in itself. When Jason Sanford called him “the Vincent Price of podcasts,” he wasn’t exaggerating!

So if you’re looking for a way to cool down this summer, this is it. Turn out the lights, turn up the AC and get under the blanket: it’s time for Tales to Terrify.

After reading his stories “3:15” and “The Tie That Binds,” Scary Scribes sits down with Creatures and Crypts writer John Grover and talks Kill Baby Kill, demonic possession, the nature of man as inherently evil (or not?), and scary images from the past—there’s a reason we’ve dubbed him the King of Childhood Chills! Join us and think about what scared YOU the most when you were young. Listen any time or download it for your listen-later pleasure right from this blog here:

If you missed Episode 1 of Scary Scribes, my new podcast on Paranormal, Eh? Radio which featured a reading of Stacey Longo’s “People Person,” followed by a chat with the writer and the story behind the story, never fear! It’s here.

Stacey’s short horror fiction has appeared in several scary anthologies, among them Malicious Deviance and Daily Bits of Flesh. She’s best known, though, for her zombie fiction—like “Wedding Day Blues,” in which a bride refuses to let her groom’s newly-dead status ruin her big day. Her zombie stories have been featured in the anthologies Zombidays: Festivities of the Flesheaters, Rapid Decomposition, and Hell Hath No Fury.

Coming January 29 at 6 p.m. to Paranormal, Eh? Radio: the first episode of the Scary Scribes podcast!

What will make Scary Scribes a bit different is it won’t be just an interview; listeners will get to hear some of the writer’s work first—in most cases, a complete short story. Scary Scribes will air the last Sunday of every month.